Dortmund beat Frankfurt to clinch 4th German Cup title

Berlin, May 28 (IANS) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty ensured a 2-1 victory for Borrusia Dortmund against Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Cup final at a sold out Berlin Olympia Stadium here.

After three straight final defeats, Borussia Dortmund lifted the German Cup title for the fourth time in the club's history as Thomas Tuchel's men overpowered resilient Frankfurt in a fast paced encounter here on Saturday night.

Dortmund grabbed a fairy tale start in front of 74,322 spectators as Ousmane Dembele shrugged off one defender to slot home into the roof of the net following a through ball from Lukasz Piszczek with eight minutes played.

Frankfurt recovered from the early setback and worked out a couple of opportunities but neither Timothy Chandler nor Ante Rebic were able to level the scores.

Frankfurt efforts paid off eventually with 30 minutes into the encounter as Rebic curled home, a pass into path from Mijat Gacinovic, into the top left corner from the edge of the box to restore parity.

Niko Kovac's men gained momentum and should have snatched the lead before the break but the left post denied Haris Sefeovic's dangerous shot on target.

Dortmund caught a good start into the second half as Aubameyang's overhead kick had to be scratched off the goal line by Marco Fabian in the 63rd minute.

Aubameyang remained in the thick of the things when goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky brought down Christian Pulisic inside the area, allowing the Gabon international to chip the ball into the centre of the goal to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards in the 67th minute.

Frankfurt pressed for the equaliser but Dortmund were able to protect the lead to the end to round off the season with the German Cup title.

Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel praised his players for their performance and said his team deserved to win.

Tuchel also heaped praise on Eintracht Frankfurt saying the team played bravely which caused a lot of problems for Dortmund.

"We began very brightly, with a lot of quality, created a lot of chances very early on and deservedly took the lead. But in the period that followed we gave the impression that it was ours to lose and that we were simply waiting for the final whistle," Tuchel was quoted as saying by club's official website on Sunday.

"Frankfurt played with a great deal of bravery, boldness and self-confidence, and caused us problems. They deserved to get the equaliser and managed to hit the post as well," he added.

Tuchel also referred this win as one of the greatest days of his coaching career.

"Today is definitely one of the greatest days of my coaching career. But I need to process it first, it needs some time to sink in. I think that special successes are achieved when there is a special connection between a coach and his players.

"We have all reached our objectives and capped a special season. That can only happen if there is mutual trust," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)